The 3rd International Conference in Urban Health will be held at Northeastern University in Boston, MA on October 20-23, 2004. The 1st and 2nd Conferences in Urban Health led to the assembly of a cross-disciplinary group of researchers and interventionists under the umbrella of an International Society for Urban Health, which includes epidemiologists, public policy professionals, public health practitioners, nurses, physicians, urban planners and sociologists. At the Institute on Urban Health Research at Northeastern University and the Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies at the New York Academy of Medicine, we are increasingly struck by the contrast between the growing importance of urbanization and the lack of systematic study of the impact of urbanization on health. We aim to maintain the intellectual and practical momentum that started with the first conference that focused on the health of disadvantaged, inner city populations in 2002, and the second conference that focused on the International Themes in Urban Health, specifically, services and urban systems, mental health, community based practices, policy and urban health and violence in 2003. The 3rd International Conference on Urban Health will address the setting of priorities in urban health, domestic and international public health agendas and building local public health infrastructures. Up to 800 attendees are expected at the conference, including members of the global research community whose interests encompass a wide variety of urban public health issues, such as drug use and abuse, demography, epidemiology, toxicology, environmental health, psychology, sociology, urban planning, and health policy who despite shared objectives rarely collaborate, thus missing critical opportunities to present and disseminate innovative solutions to urban health issues. We intend to foster an international research group to collectively improve the understanding of the common health risks faced by urban residents, and to influence the development of effective public health interventions across the globe.